Memorandum by North Dorset District Council
(RC 27)
1. INTRODUCTION
North Dorset is a largely unspoilt rural District
embracing five market towns of Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury, Gillingham,
Sturminster Newton and Stalbridge and covering approximately 235
square miles. The population is approximately 62,000 and this
figure has increased significantly in recent years and it is likely
to continue increasing. The number of residential properties is
29,145.
To date North Dorset District Council has achieved
one of the highest recycling rates in Dorset. This has been achieved
through a network of bring banks and a comprehensive kerbside
collection scheme for dry recyclables. Residual waste is collected
weekly in black sacks.
In March 2006 a pilot wheeled bin collection
scheme was implemented to 6,000 households in the district enabling
the separate collection of food waste and cardboard. The scheme
has been designed to focus on waste minimisation by limiting the
capacity for residual waste disposal to only 140 litre once a
fortnight with a strict no side-waste policy. The scheme is consistently
achieving recycling rates of around 65% and we feel it represents
a model of best practice nationally.
2. COLLECTION
METHODS—CONTRIBUTION
TO WASTE
MINIMISATION
In March 2006 NDDC implemented a pilot wheeled
bin collection scheme to 6,000 properties with the aim of reducing
the amount of waste generated and diverting significant amounts
of organic waste from landfill.
The North Dorset town of Gillingham and the
surrounding villages of Bourton, Silton, Milton on Stour, Motcombe
and Huntingford were selected for the pilot scheme. The area is
very rural however the main town, Gillingham, is one of the fastest
growing in the Country, with the population increasing by over
30% of the past 10 years.
The pilot scheme was developed by a cross party
member working group and was supported by ROTATE.
Each property in the pilot area receives the
following services:-
— Weekly collection of all food waste,
cardboard and non-recyclable paper/tissue from a 140 litre wheeled
bin.
— Fortnightly collection of dry recyclables
(plastic bottles, cans, papers, and majority of properties can
also recycle glass) from a 55 litre green box.
— Fortnightly collection of residual
waste from a 140 litre wheeled bin.
To support the scheme and maximise waste minimisation
a no side waste policy was implemented. Residents do however have
the option of purchasing additional residual waste capacity by
buying additional waste sacks at £1 each or alternatively
they can rent a larger 240 litre bin (replacing the standard 140
litre) for £27.50 per year, or alternatively renting an additional
140 litre bin for £39.00 per year.
Garden waste is not collected in the organic
waste bin due to the potential for this to increase our overall
waste arisings. We are currently in the top quartile for waste
arisings. Instead members felt that it was important for the Council
to promote home composting as a key waste reduction activity.
The issue of whether or not to include garden waste in the brown
bins is currently being debated at Dorset Waste Management meetings.
We are looking for evidence to support adding it to the scheme
without increasing overall waste arisings. Its addition would
make our collection rounds more cost effective and increase performance.
The pilot scheme has now been operating for
over a year with excellent results. The recycling rate in the
area has consistently achieved 65%.
By severely restricting the size of the residual
waste bin and its collection frequency the scheme has ensured
that the maximum amount of organic waste and dry recyclate are
diverted from the waste stream for recycling or composting.
The Council has recently conducted a survey
of resident's attitudes to the pilot scheme. The results of which
have been extremely positive with over 90% agreeing that the pilot
scheme should be extended across the District to help meet future
recycling targets. A copy of the report is attached as appendix
1.[12]
Unfortunately we do not currently have information
on the comparisons of waste arisings between the pilot scheme
and other areas in the District however this can be provided at
a later date if required.
Barriers to Extending the Scheme
— The scheme has cross party member
support and NDDC would like to see it extended to all properties
in the District. Funding is crucial to this and due to the capping
of council tax it is not possible for us to raise the funds required.
This Council has one of the lowest rates of council tax in the
Country (Band D 2005-06 £84 compared to national average
of £154). Due to capping of council tax for the past three
years the Council is having to progressively shed all it's funding
of discretionary services as well as having to make unheard-of
economies in its statutory services.
— North Dorset is a very rural district
with a dispersed population giving rise to poor access to services
and increased collection costs.
— The location, design and capacity
of delivery/tipping facilities has a significant impact on the
cost effectiveness and affordability of collection systems. The
current facilities available to us are not sufficient for our
current service level, let alone capable of meeting future requirements.
— Uncertainty over future targets/national
strategy.
3. JOINT WORKING
— The Dorset authorities have always
had a strong partnership in waste and recycling. Our joint Municipal
Waste Strategy was agreed in 2002. The Dorset authorities waste
managers meet regularly at the Waste Strategy Implementation Group
and recycling officers at the Dorset Recycling & Reduction
Group (DRRG). Many waste minimisation projects are jointly delivered
through the DRRG including home composting, real nappies, community
composting, recycling champions and commercial waste recycling.
— The Dorset authorities are currently
exploring options for joint service delivery under potential Dorset-wide
Pathfinder application. This is including investigations into
authorities adopting a cluster approach and also a single waste
authority option.
4. INFORMATION
PROGRAMMES
The Dorset authorities already invest significant
time and resources into the promotion of waste minimisation activities.
We currently have a project ongoing in partnership with Defra
monitoring and evaluating waste prevention activities in Dorset.
This has been running from June 2005 and will finish in March
2008. Dorset is also a partner in the WRAP home composting scheme.
Wherever possible we work in partnership with community organisation
such as Your Choice furniture recycling/reuse project and WISH
who carry out collections of garden waste from residents and operate
a community composting facility.
Need for national campaigns to educate and enforce
positive messages:
— Providing positive and factual messages
to public about waste minimisation activities such as smart shopping,
junk mail, real nappies etc. A national campaign tackling these
issues would support local authorities.
— Central organisation to deal with
media enquiries to help counter negative press attention on waste/recycling
which is having seriously detrimental effect on public perception
of schemes.
— Tackling packing waste at producer
level.
— Educating businesses about their
own responsibilities for waste disposal.
— Additional funding for direct communication
activities such as door knocking.
5. TECHNOLOGY
Currently no way to compact plastic bottles
on kerbside sort vehicles makes collection very expensive. New
technology to compact bulky lightweight materials would make rounds
much more cost effective.
6. PLANNING
Due to the high quality landscape in Dorset
illustrated by the range of environmental designations eg AONB's
the opportunity to provide new infrastructure to facilitate improved
storage, treatment and disposal of waste are limited. In view
of these restrictions identifying opportunities and providing
new facilities is likely to be long term with no immediate alternatives
available.
This is a particular problem in rural areas
such as ours as long distances to tipping facilities has a direct
impact on the cost effectiveness and affordability of new and
existing collection schemes.
7. FINANCING
North Dorset is facing severe financial constraints
described above and ever increasing targets and responsibilities
are adding additional burden without additional funding becoming
available. Additionally, any external funding that we are successful
in attaining has to date been pump-priming capital. There has
been no assistance toward the ongoing running costs of the scheme.
However, in spite of these difficulties maximising recycling rates
and diverting material from landfill have always been high priorities
for this council with cross party member support.
Rural councils face additional burdens as collection
costs in rural districts tend to be above average due to the larger
distances involved in collecting and tipping waste and the dispersed
nature of the population. For the same reasons collection rounds
tend to be less cost effective compared to more urban areas.
The pilot scheme we are currently operating
limits the amount of waste residents can dispose of free of charge
and in effect those that produce more waste have to pay for its
disposal by purchasing additional capacity. The scheme has had
a massive impact on the amount of waste diverted from landfill
and maximises participation and capture rates in the dry recycling
and organic waste collection schemes. We consider that the implementation
of such schemes really are the key to minimising waste and encouraging
residents to fully sort the waste they do generate. However, without
funding becoming available we will struggle to implement this
scheme District-wide.
We agree in principle with the potential for
variable charging schemes however for a small authority such as
ours we can not see how implementing such a scheme could ever
be feasible as the costs would be prohibitive. This may only be
a possibility if a single waste authority for Dorset were put
in place. We also have concerns over the effectiveness of the
technologies in place to support variable charging schemes such
as on-board weighing and bin lift weighting systems.
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